Wings
by Furroufee Attacku
Summary: They met accidentally and he took her because she caught his attention. Destiny was entwined long ago. Levi x Mikasa
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own ANY of the Shingeki no Kyoujin characters.

The rain was pelting down hard, the drops of water being caught on huge forest tree leaves and others falling to the ground with loud plops. He zipped through the trees lightly almost dodging raindrops. He landed softly onto a tree branch waiting for his comrades to catch up. His never changing look of boredom swept over the area and he noticed a titan starting to make it's way towards him. He released his 3D maneuver gear and hooked towards the tree behind the titan in a blink of an eye, he released the grapple and aimed again at the back of the titan's neck. Pulling himself closer he raised a blade and cleanly cut through the back of the neck. The titan fell with a thud and he pulled himself on to a tree branch again, looking in distaste at the blood covered blade.

'Filthy' He muttered and discarded the blade replacing the hilt back into the 3DMG. He pulled on the hood of the cloak shielding himself from the rain and the cold.

'Levi~~!' An ecstatic and overjoyed voice called out to him and he inwardly groaned. Levi ignored Hanji Zoe as she landed beside him.

'You're just too fast Levi~' She said loudly.

'Shut up. I'm sure they can hear you all the way back at the wall' He muttered.

'What was that Levi?' She unhooked the grapple just as the rest of their group arrived.

'You're moving too fast for us to catch up to you' Mike said. Petra Ral the only other female in the group was panting slightly and Oluo was visibly paled. Just at that moment a yellow flare for retreat appeared to the right of them.

'Hanji go ahead and inform Commander Erwin that we'll be scouting around towards Shiganshina and meet them at HQ, after that you can leave with him. Gunther follow Hanji' Mike said as he was temporarily in charge of their group. Hanji nodded in acknowledgment and released her 3DMG moving swiftly towards the dissipating smoke. Gunther followed a couple of meters behind Hanji and they both disappeared into the dense forest.

Mike turned to address the rest of the group. 'Our horses are about 2km from here towards North, we are going to split into 3 groups. Levi with Oluo, Petra with Eld and I'll go with Dita. My group and Levi's group will go towards east and west. Petra's group straight North. Only kill the abberant titans, we must protect the carriages that's an order understood?' Mike didn't wait for an answer and turned and nodded at the rest of them and left with Dita, the wings of freedom fluttering in their departure.

Petra and Eld followed soon after and Oluo finally recovered enough to continue on. He wheezed behind Levi as he raced on ahead.

'So...(huff) you're the new grad (huff) that got number 1 place?' Oluo wheezed out. Levi only nodded.

'I'm surprised that (huff) Erwin let you join the expedition so quickly even though you're supposed to only be a rookie (huff) He said you were amazing' Oluo grimaced as a small tiny branch left a scratch on his legs.

'You know that lil girl (huff) Petra? She looks like she (huff) has a crush on you... Damn I'm getting to out of shape for this, you know...' Levi tuned him out. Keeping his eyes peeled on the surroundings, as they were gliding between the trees and the rain was coming down hard, it was difficult to distinguish any other sounds. A little bit ahead the bushes were rustling and he noted how a couple of birds had flew up in the sky. There was next to no warning. five 12-15m class titans appeared to their right and left and Oluo panicked. Oluo crashed into Levi's grapple pulling Levi towards the ground. Oluo crashed to the ground in a heap when a titan grabbed onto the grapple line. Levi did his best to tuck and roll but the ground was extremely muddy and a titan had reached for his legs. Levi cursed as his feet stuck on the muddy earth and grimaced painfully when the titan crushed his right leg.

He raised short knife and slashed effortlessly across the forefinger and the titan dropped him. He grunted when he landed on his broken leg but turned around to see Oluo being surrounded by 2 titans. He was frozen on the spot looking terrified at the first titans he had ever seen. Levi rushed to get to him but another pair of enormous fingers were reaching for him. He tried to use his 3DMG to escape the grasp but it was smashed during his fall and didn't respond to his touch.

Levi was muddy and filthy, covered in dirt and blood. This was such a filthy and unfair way to die.

Life was too cruel.

Suddenly a shadow of a figure rose up from behind the trees and in a matter of seconds the five titans all collapsed deep cuts in their necks. He looked up to the trees and saw a pair of cold black eyes staring down at him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Shingeki no kyoujin/Attack on titan characters and settings are NOT mine.

* * *

His arms lashed out grabbing the figure by the throat with one hand and drawing the short knife with the other.

'Who the hell are you' Levi glared at the hooded figure, who was shaking and clawing at his hands. Levi flicked back the hood with his short knife. He stared once again into obsidian eyes and could see his own self reflected in the dark pools. A small girl with swords far too big for her size glared at him coldly. There wasn't any hint of emotion in her face other than anger. He was surprised, last time he had heard the only females in the scouting legion was Hanji and Petra so far.

'I asked you brat who are you' Levi released his right hand and the girl fell to the ground heaving trying to get air back into her lungs.

She looked up at him again and glared fiercely.

'I saved your life and you nearly killed me shorty' she hissed a slight crack in her voice.

'If you don't want me to slice your neck right now, tell me who the fuck you are.' He drew his switch blade and bought it to the girl's neck. Her eyes widened a fraction.

'Mikasa Ackerman' she muttered.

'Wouldn't have been a waste of time if you have told me earlier brat' Levi sheathed his blade and limped/dragged himself over to Oluo and touched the base of his neck.

_Still breathing, he needs medical attention fast. But what about the little brat_

Levi looked back at the girl who was just staring blankly at him.

'Questions later, help me carry this person' Levi said.

'Not my problem' the little girl was very annoying and bratty, not to mention germ infested and dirty.

'I know it isnt just don't regret the choice you made of turning your back on us' He looked at her as she was busy pulling on her hood again.

Mikasa didn't have any reason to help them, the only reason that she had come out to save them and risk her own life had been because she couldn't just leave them to die in front of her eyes. No, she had sworn to herself after watching her own parents cut to bits in front of her eyes. She would save anyone within her power. The shorty had made sense, if she turned her back on them now she knew it would play on her mind and make her regret it for the rest of her life. Her hand was already on the 3DMG getting ready to hook to a tall tree her eyes had settled on. But she turned. The rude shorty was leaning over a middle aged man, they were both suffering pretty serious injuries, and it felt inhumane to leave them to survive on their own when she knew their chances were slim on surviving.

Levi barely glanced at her when she crouched next to him, but he was very surprised when she lifted up Oluo with ease even though Oluo was nearly twice her little frame.

Levi said nothing at all and set his face into a frown again. This girl was surprising him over and over and he couldn't quite get rid of the feel of thrill that was rising in his stomach. He replaced his own 3DMG with Oluo's and lead the way without even a word to Mikasa. As he had expected she followed quietly, she glided in the air with ease even on top of the weight placed on her shoulders. Levi couldn't help but appreciate how she flew like a bird. There was no jerking or sliding as she turned corners, she flew, cutting through the air cleanly, her dark black hair streaking behind her in the wind. Levi looked away quickly, he was NOT checking out a girl during a mission where their lives were on the line.

'It's rude not to introduce yourself, unless I can keep calling you shorty' she said, he found himself liking the soft quiet voice.

'Levi'

It was back to being silent. Levi was focusing on the continuous stream of black smoke in the sky and knew the wall was close, seemed like a lot of titans had gathered near the walls. The large trees were starting to thin out and the scarcity of trees made it continuously more difficult to use their 3DMG.

Through the gaps in the trees he spotted a large red flag and charged towards it, coming out in a clearing. A couple of horses and carriages were littered around a large fenced area but it was completely devoid of any humans.

Levi landed solidly on the ground ignoring the pain in his legs, the cold had helped numb the pain a little. Levi grabbed a random horse and swung on with little difficulty. Mikasa set Oluo down onto a carriage that was attached to a horse and led the reins of the horse to Levi.

'I'm leaving' She said and turned around back towards the dense forest.

'You live in the forest' It was more of a statement then a question and she ignored it anyway.

'Get on the horse, you're going back to the wall with me' Levi ordered her.

'No'

'I didn't give you a choice, I will drag you back with me' He didn't doubt his skills, and was sure that he could catch up to her on 3DMG no matter how good she was. He would NOT let this chance go.

'I dont know what the "Wall" is but I'm not going anywhere with you, you're safe now, you can outrun titans on horses'

'You're going to die here alone'

'I survived this long, I can take care of myself' She was stubborn and it pissed him off.

'I don't have a choice, you're going to come back and tell us what the fuck you were doing out here on your own' He was close to yelling and saw her flinch. He had forgotten that she still seemed like a child, they had been together 10-20 minutes and he had seen so much potential and skill that he had forgotten that she was small and a little kid.

'I won't hurt you, all we'll do is question you. The walls is the safest place to be right now. I'll take care of you' He said more quietly. He should have guessed that she was alone and probably had no idea how to act or trust him. She seemed to agree and opened her mouth when a titan roar erupted somewhere behind them. He swore, he and the brat had been standing there too long. Mikasa grabbed a horse but was too small to swing on alone. Levi grabbed the back of her cloak and tossed her in front of him. Levi led his horse and the carriage down the trail just as a titan burst into the clearing. Mikasa held on to the mane as tightly as she could as the horse went faster speeding down the grassy hills. However as fast as they were on horses, the carriage was slowing them down considerably and the titan was slowly catching up its big stupid smile fixed on its face. Levi swore and cursed Oluo a thousand times over in his mind, this was all happening because Oluo had opened his big mouth. It was risky but he was going to have to pass the reins to Mikasa and try to find a tree somewhere so he could release his 3DMG and swing around to the back of the titan.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud and surprisingly welcomed voice of Hanji crying out his name.

'Levi~ I'm here to save you!' Hanji leaped off her horse and released the 3DMG, the grapple hooked onto the titan's arms. Hanji flew towards the titan and ran up the titan's arm squealing like a child when she reached the top of the titan's head.

'Kyaaaa this one is 15m Levi!' She called out to him easily dodging the titan's hand that had been trying to grab her off its head.

Levi gave her a cold glare over his shoulder. Hanji giggled and easily sliced the titan's neck leaping off before the titan's head hit the ground. She caught onto her horse and rode up beside Levi barely glancing at Oluo in the carriage.

Her eyes leapt up when she spotted Mikasa half buried inside his cloak.

'Levi when did you have a kid?'


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titans/Shingeki no Kyojin

**Note Mikasa is 9 and Levi is 15. Erwin is a commander and only 28 years old.**

* * *

He kicked down the door to his room roughly ignoring Hanji giggling behind him. Levi made sure that Mikasa didn't wake up from within his arms, he gently set Mikasa down onto his clean sheets resisting the urge to groan at the sight of dirt starting to cling onto the once white sheets.

'If you were that gentle to every girl I'm sure you'd be a lot more popular~' Hanji sang out and he glared at her which like she always did ignored.

'Do you think Mikasa could be a child of a titan?' Hanji suddenly exclaimed out and suddenly a thousand stars seemed to be glowing around her and she quickly pulled out a bunch of books and needles and even a large cage from out of no where.

Levi was for a moment stunned. Then regaining his posture Levi swatted Hanji's hands away.

'Can't be right, she doesn't have that big bouncing fleshy hot melting bod-' Hanji was pushed out roughly out of the room along with all her belongings.

'Hanji your obsession with titans is disgusting' Levi began closing the door in her face when Hanji reached out and grabbed the door handle before the doors clicked.

'Erwin sent message that he'll be coming to see you around 9pm to talk about Mikasa'

Levi nodded in understanding and close the door before locking it. The doctor had told him to rest easy and keep himself from doing strenuous activities. He had a bruised rib and a broken leg as well as an arm, his liver had ruptured but it was patched up cleanly in the end. He had rubbed every and any part of body he could reach except for the stitch on his stomach trying to wipe away at least a little of the filth and dirt. He limped over to his desk chair and sat down putting his head back and looking out the single window above his desk.

Levi looked over to Mikasa who was sleeping deeply facing him, her hair spilled over her face and onto the bed and he took a sharp intake of breath, she would surely very beautiful in the future. He lifted his hands and pushed away a strand of her hair from her eyes. Mikasa's eyes flew open and stared at him.

'Brat you're awake' Levi hastily removed his hands and bought it up to his cravat to loosen it.

'It's Mikasa' She said and swung her legs around so she was sitting on the side of the bed, she rubbed at her eyes tired.

'You're going to tell me a bit about yourself before Erwin gets here' Levi pulled out a black notebook from his desk drawer and flipped through a couple of pages before setting his pen down on a page and looked expectantly at her.

She gave her the blank stare she always seemed to wear from the moment he met her.

'Get on with it Ackerman, tell me why you were outside the walls, how old are you, how you survived everything.' Levi matched her bored stare. Mikasa suddenly started taking off her jacket.

'Hey what-' He exclaimed losing his calm. A faint scar was clearly visible on the inside of her arm although it was white from years of healing it would forever remain. A pair of dual daggers crossed each other a pair of wings similar yet different from the scouting legion's own symbol sprouted from the top of each dagger and a lotus blossom wrapped itself around entwining between the dual daggers.

'My mom gave it to me when I was 5'

* * *

_Year 831. _

_She ran as fast as she could towards the log cabin in the middle of the woods. Her little legs didn't stop for a break and she burst through the door with excitement in her eyes. 'Mama, papa! there are horsemen outside looking for you!' Her little fists clenched in pure curiosity. _

_'What are you talking about Mikasa' Her mother continued washing the dishes uninterested._

_'They said something about a man named king!' _

_Her mother dropped the plate and her father looked up from his newspaper in horror. He dashed towards the door and her mother followed just as much in a hurry. Mikasa made move to follow them but her mother bent down to her level._

_'Don't come out' Mikasa had no choice but to nod and watch her parents shut the door locking her inside the house. Mikasa dragged a chair to the window and climbed up peeking through. Mikasa's parents were arguing with several men eyes furious. Her father was yelling but it was too blurry to recognize. The men with the brown jackets with green horses stitched onto the back shook their head and handed her mother a white envelope with a large red seal on it. Her mother accepted in defeat and bowed and stood with her father outside their homes until the men left. _

_As soon as her mother and father were in the door Mikasa was on them._

_'Papa who are they? What do they want?' _

_'Mikasa come here hunnie' Her mother grabbed her arm when she came close enough and rolled up the sleeve. She took the small knife that her husband handed her and bought it close to Mikasa's arm. Frightened, Mikasa began to pull and struggle._

_'Mama what are you doing? You're scaring me!'_

_'You know this mark, is a reminder of who you are, our lives are about to change hunnie, I just hope you know I do this only for you and will think of me and papa fondly' _

_Mikasa stifled a scream._

_That night the same horsemen came again while Mikasa was asleep and escorted them to the edge of Wall Maria. One of the horsemen gave them a salute looking at the little girl in her father's arms and watched as the couple was sent out of the walls and into the darkness of the wild._

_Year 832_

_'Keep your weight down Mikasa how many times must I tell you that!' Her father barked showing her again how to stay upright on the 3DMG. They were elevated 10m off the ground and Mikasa gulped at the height below her. _

_'Don't be distracted! You only need to focus on whats in front of you or you will be eaten by a titan!'_

_'Don't strike too hard or your blade will blunt faster, keep your strokes light and swift!' _

_'Speed is your most important factor of survival! Don't land on one place too long!'_

_'Mikasa you're doing it wrong! jump off a branch and rotate your body to increase speed instead of relying solely on gas!'_

_And she matured, grew with her father and mother's training. They lived in a makeshift house about the trees the tallest tree there was in the forest for as far as Mikasa's eyes could see. Her mother was often out carrying only a piece of red paper and a pen. Her father would also leave with her on many days and when he wasnt would train her. She had heard of them talk about titans often whether or not she had heard or not. They sounded too terrifying but she had faith that her parents would protect her. _

_Most days she trained with her father and every night her mother would bring her close to her and teach her math and strategy, asking her a series of questions. She enjoyed making strategies and reading old stories on people she had never heard of before, great leaders and commanders. _

_After physical training and studying, her mother would always grab her arm and retrace the scar before bandaging it again._

_Year 832 Mid month. _

_A red flare lit up in the sky lightening bright against the grey sky. Her mother leaped up from where she was skinning a rabbit and grabbed her 3DMG, Mikasa grabbed her own and started putting it on when her mother stopped her. _

_'You have to stay here, I'll be back in a bit' _

_'But-' _

_'You won't listen to your mother?'_

_'Flare if you need me' _

_Her mother nodded and jumped down from the tree swinging to different trees and soon disappearing. _

_Mikasa continued polishing and sharpening her blades and it continued for a while before a purple flare went off and Mikasa gasped. Emergency!_

_She put her training 3DMG on and rushed to where the purple flare had been shot from. She couldn't stop her mouth from dropping at the sight. Several tens of titans ranging from 6-15m was clawing at a particular tree splattered with blood. Her mother sat with her legs at a weird angle holding her father in a tight grip. Her father was dead and her mother was dying. _

_'Mikasa, mikasa' Her mother cried out when she saw her. She grabbed Mikasa's dark hair and pulled her closer. _

_'Get back... to the wall, you're not safe... Take my gear... Find her... Remember who you are' _

_Her mother's hand loosened from her hair and the breathing stopped. Mikasa looked down at her parents lying lifeless on top of a tree branch, now dead. Her heart dropped. _

_'Mama...'_

_'Papa?' She started shaking her parents bodies but there was no movement except for the flowing blood. _

_Tears started spilling from her eyes but she didn't notice, all that was in her eyes were titans, bloodthirsty titans that didn't give a damn about humanity. She removed her 3DMG and gently took her mother's like she had said. Pulling it like chains around herself she unleashed the blades and held it in front of her. _

_'Go to hell' She jumped and twisted her body straight into the horde of titans._

* * *

Levi closed his eyes, and nursed his aching head, it all didn't make sense. There were too many questions that was unanswered and too many questions he still had. Mikasa was re-wrapping the scar on her right arm.

_That scar, it means something. looks too familiar_ Levi thought.

Mikasa jumped when there was a sharp rap on the door and Levi glanced lazily as Erwin stepped in.

Erwin nodded to Levi and stared at Mikasa. He leaned down to Mikasa's level (since he's too damn tall Levi thought).

'So you're Mikasa Ackerman? Nice to meet you I'm commander Erwin, I was good friends with your parents' Levi's head shot up at that, good friends? did that mean Mikasa's parents had been in the military? Mikasa's eyes also widened at this piece of news.

'Your mother was exceptional at almost everything and your father was unequalled at using the 3DMG, they often helped me with my work' Erwin was recalling fond memories of his days in the training squad.

_'Hey Smith! stop hogging my girlfriend!' James Ackerman swung his arm around Kimiko Sato's shoulders. _

_Kimiko glared but sighed in return. 'Don't mind Jimmy, he doesn't know when to give up' She flipped her boyfriend over her shoulders and held up the piece of paper Erwin had given her. 'I'll look over what you wrote tonight Erwin' She walked away without looking back. _

_'Why do you always try to get on her bad side?' Erwin shook his head. James stood up rubbing his head and his back. _

_'She's a piece of work James said fondly at where Kimiko was standing. _

_'She's never going to go out with you if you keep annoying her. You should improve your hand to hand combat instead of wasting your time. Maybe she'll be more impressed if you can manage to flip her stead of the other way around all the time' Erwin chuckled lightly. _

_'I'm going to marry that one, as soon as we're done in the training squad I'll force her to marry me, she loves me and she knows it' James said arrogantly but with a twinkle of mirth in his eyes. _

Levi quietly cleared his throat unwilling to embarrass his superior and tell him he's daydreaming. Erwin blinked and set his hard face back on and grabbed Mikasa's hands.

'Your parents were in the Scouting legion with me, I hope that is enough reason for you to trust me' Erwin said. Mikasa hesitantly nodded and retrieved her hands from his grasp hoping it wasn't rude.

'Can you wait outside with Hanji while I talk to Levi?' Mikasa stepped off the bed and quietly let herself out the door and Levi heard a loud 'MIKASA!' before the heavy oak door closed.

'Tell me everything you know' Erwin sat on another chair and Levi recited everything he had wrote down from Mikasa's story.

'It doesn't make a damn sense and I can't tell if that brat is lying or not, what kind of order came from the king to send them outside the walls? with a 5 year old girl nonetheless? What does the symbol mean, I don't like dealing with brats they never make sense' Levi pinched his nose in frustration.

'The Amory decree' Erwin said without hesitation. Levi glanced at his superior frowning.

'What?'

'10 years ago Hanji's mother submitted a series of research that claimed that off springs from certain strong and intelligent people could or might be even stronger than their parents, it hasn't been proven of course but Hanji's mother presented the research to the king, and he created the Amory decree. 10 soldiers from each legion along with 20 doctors and 30 researchers were taken out of their jobs and sent to the castle to receive the Amory decree. To procreate and present their children at the age of 5 so they could be taken in for intensive training. To be shaped and molded into fighting monsters'

'Then why isn't Mikasa in this intensive training? She was outside the walls as filthy as pigs!'

'Those who disobey the king are either thrown into jail or thrown out the next wall, you know that'

Levi cursed.

'Are you taking the brat to the castle then?'

Erwin looked aghast at the comment and shook his head.

'You have to keep her here, and make sure that she isn't found out by the military police, they'll drag her back no matter what, the Amory decree is still in effect and very much favored on'

'You want me to look after that.. brat?'

'I want you to protect Mikasa yes, I have to leave for Wall Rose tomorrow to meet up with Mr Pixis'

'She's dirty'

'She's an orphan'

Levi sighed, Erwin had hit the button.

'Only for a week then you find someone else to do the dirty work' Levi hissed and tossed his notebook back into the desk before slamming it shut. He limped over to his wardrobe and pulled out a clean sheet, he tossed it to Erwin who sighed before starting to replace the dirty sheets.

'You owe me' Levi said.

* * *

'Ackerman get in here' Levi was exasperated, why did kids have to be so difficult? His fingers lightly touched the water surface to make sure it was still warm.

'I'm fine'

Levi stared at her like she was insane.

'You probably haven't washed yourself for so long dirt probably materialized into your skin' He was irritated. Mikasa frowned.

'If you're dirty I'm going to kick you out of the room' Levi shifted position to ease the pain out of his broken leg.

Mikasa hesitantly stepped into the bathroom pulling her clothes tighter to herself but it was no use, Levi pulled her down and started pulling the layers of clothes off, though it wasn't as dirty as he had expected it to be it still sent shivers at the rag she wore. Mikasa struggled.

'Stop moving I'm not interested in little kids' Levi grunted when Mikasa accidentally kicked him in his stomach. _Damn it hurts but she has a good kick_

'You're a kid too'

'Not as little as you' Levi pushed her into the bath and tossed her old clothing aside making note to burn it later. He held up a sponge and started scrubbing at her skin firmly and didn't stop however much she struggled. He felt satisfaction when he saw the pale skin after rubbing for a bit.

'That's how you wash yourself, don't come out until you're as clean as this spot all over or else I'm making sure you sleep with Hanji' Levi pointed to the patch of skin that now sparkled. Mikasa grimaced she did not fancy sleeping with the loud woman who kept screaming in her ears about her past.

Levi scrubbed his hands and left the bathroom closing the door with a click. He half limped dragged himself into bed. It had been a long day and he was tired.

He pulled out his notebook and drew the symbol that was on Mikasa's arm. He stared at his drawing thoughtfully. He was still staring at the drawing when the door opened and a squeaky clean Mikasa stepped out steam billowing around her, Erwin had left a couple of shirts he had found in the storage room and she was wearing the shirt and pants rolled up tightly to fit her size. Levi gestured to her to come closer and inspected her. She was a pretty girl for her age and she felt so much like an adult it felt unnatural. Levi made sure that not a speck of dust clung on her skin. He nodded in approval and moved closer to the wall and reached out to extinguish the candle.

'Where am I sleeping'

'Here' Levi pointed to the space next to him.

'I'm sleeping with you?' Mikasa blushed a little but kept her disgust in her voice.

'If you don't want to then sleep on the floor' Levi retorted.

'But you don't have any spare blankets'

'Then deal with it' Levi extinguished the candle and turned to face the wall.

A small grin crept onto his face when he felt the rustle of the blankets moving and the weight on the bed next to him.

'Brat' He muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer I do not own Attack on titan

* * *

_Erwin slammed his fist against the wall in anger, and glanced between Kimiko and James. _

_'Why you two? You are our strongest fighters! The king can't take you from the scouting legion we need you!' _

_Kimiko sighed and jumped down from the fence she had been sitting on. _

_'The decree was passed yesterday, we don't have any say in it. Erwin you know that you can't disobey direct orders of the king' Kimiko brushed her fingertips against her scouting legion cloak. _

_'But it's too stupid! The king is being stupid! How can he take a bunch of soldiers and order them to make children?' _

_James slightly glared at him his anger flaring up._

_'We follow because we have no choice! The commander signed the release from duty forms today! There is no one standing for us because we are no more than pawns in this game of war, so stop acting like a child and grow up already! You knew from day one that me and Kimiko wouldn't be around forever.' James huffed and strode off, marching across the field and disappearing into HQ._

_'Erwin you're 15 and I know you're scared, but you have to understand that we would have fought against this decision if we could, but there are bigger more important things on the line and we have no choice but to follow orders. You'll be fine in the scouting legion without us and I know you'll be able to lead people against the titans as commander' Kimiko patted Erwin's head. _

_'I am upset that I will no longer be able to fight, this has been both James and my dream since we were children and it feels like our dreams has been snatched away like candy right in front of our eyes, for the next 5-6 years we will be confined and contained, reduced to test subjects and experiments but...'_

_'I'm just glad I was paired with James' Kimiko smiled sadly and hung her green cloak on the fence post. _

_'Kimiko...' Erwin bit his lips down hard. _

_'Fight and win, lead and lose, taste the glory on your lips Erwin' Kimiko saluted, her right hand going to her heart and her left hand behind her back. _

_Erwin followed suit, saluting to the best soldiers in the scouting legion, to his friends, his mentors, and his family. _

His eyes were set on the night sky as he let his horse follow on with other horses in their group.

He glanced at Hanji who had pulled up her horse to match his pace.

'Commander Erwin, is it really alright for me to come with you? Maybe it would have been better for me to stay behind and look after Mikasa and Levi'

Erwin looked around to make sure no one was listening to them and shook his head.

'Levi will be fine without us needing to babysit him. I need you to attend the officer's meeting with me, and not another word about Mikasa'

She nodded and hesitated.

'Sir, I'd like to apologize for my mother's behavior and her research, it seemed to have caused you pain personally'

'No, your mother reported her findings about what she deemed right, and my friends did their duty, Mikasa may hold you in resentment but you should know that you did nothing wrong, neither did your mother. Your mother changed my friend's lives, but they never held anyone in blame for that' Erwin held onto the reins tighter.

Hanji nodded in understanding but didn't say another word. They travelled down the dark path silently accompanied by stars.

'Were you very close to Mikasa's parents sir?' Hanji whispered.

'We all entered the 93rd training corp. together along with a number of other friends, we were all from the same orphanage, and Kimiko, James and Carla were the oldest amongst us, they were like parents and older siblings we never had. We all managed to pass, all of us nobodies from an orphanage and most of us passed on to go to Military Police or the Sentry. Kimiko and James never faltered in their decision to join the Scouting legion, which was surprising because back when we joined, the scouting legion was a mess, under the management of a scum who never set foot outside his home within Wall Sina. Scouting legion was only created to symbolize hope but never to enforce it. Every expedition ended with a near 97% death rate, there was no plan, no strategy, we were just a group of people meant to die'

'After we came into the scouting legion though, there was a large number of changes, unofficial commanders and platoons were set up. Plans of action made, signals identified, mass strategy group meetings endless nights of training and improvement, and we finally made our first successful expedition, successful because we had managed to discover a deserted farming village outside the walls, because we had made it back by only losing 3% of the expedition. Kimiko and James lead the change and it was unanimously decided they would become commanders of the scouting legion. But... it didn't work out that way and they were sent away to fulfill their orders'

Erwin was spaced out and Hanji didn't disturb him anymore, instead opting to keep her eyes downcast to her hands.

* * *

_THUMP_

Levi glared angrily shooting daggers up at the ceiling. He was tangled in a mass of sheets on the _floor_, his sheets trailed off the bed and for a moment he was confused. _What the-_

He nearly sneered when Mikasa leaned over the bed and looked down on him amused.

'What are you doing on the floor?'

Levi wordlessly grabbed his cane (Provided by Erwin!) and lightly hit Mikasa on the head with it.

'You pushed me'

'You were heavy' She retorted back rubbing at her head.

'This is the 3rd time you've woke me up' He sneered.

'It's your fault for rolling onto me, I'm not a pillow' Mikasa retorted back.

'Brat I'm looking after you'

'I didn't ask you to bring me here, you forced me'

Levi frowned, there was no hint of appreciation in her voice.

'You wouldn't have lasted much longer out there'

'I lasted this long didn't I?'

Levi was close to saying words he knew he would regret but held himself back reminding himself for the nth time that this was just a little girl. He pulled himself back onto the bed ignoring Mikasa and tossed the dirty sheets to the floor and grabbed Mikasa's side of the blanket and pulled it over himself and Mikasa.

'Just go back to sleep' Levi mumbled under the clean sheets. 'And don't wake me up again'

* * *

It only felt like a second had passed when Levi woke up next but the room was tinted in gold from the rising sun and he knew it had been over 6 hours since Mikasa had pushed him off the bed, he felt like he hadn't slept all night and he was extremely tired, why had he insisted on bringing back Mikasa.

He stared at the space Mikasa should have been, his brain stopped functioning for a second as he blinked at the crumpled sheets of the cold imprint of someone who had been there. He cursed and tossed his green cloak over his shoulders before grabbing his walking stick and making his way frustrated out of his rooms and down the quiet cold hallways. As it was the day after an expedition soldiers were allowed to sleep in and Levi knew that most people wouldn't be up until late afternoon.

Hearing a sound he glanced out of a window and was not surprised to see Mikasa on the training field doing punches and kicks against a dummy.

He threw open the door of the HQ and strolled out on to the field. He marched up to Mikasa who was ignoring his presence and grabbed her by the collar swiftly.

'I told you not to leave my sight'

'You told me not to wake you up' She slapped his hand away and resumed kicking the dummy which was now swinging dangerously so Levi had to step out of the way.

He was going to kill this girl one day he thought if he didn't kill himself first. It was difficult to have a conversation with her without wanting to offer his head to a titan. He composed himself and opted to cross his arms and lean against a fence.

'Only for another half hour' He told her.

Mikasa ignored him. _Typical_

He watched her closely, too closely. His eyes never left her and Mikasa knew that every time she would turn to face him he would look away hastily with that constant frown on his face. She gave a hard smack to the dummy and it fell on the ground broken, splintered off its post. Mikasa huffed trying to regain her breathing. Half an hour had surely passed and Mikasa reluctantly picked up her 3DMG off the ground and gathered the rest of her gears.

'Wait' Levi called out from his position and pointed to a pair of wooden posts.

'I want to test your skills' Levi limped ahead and Mikasa followed with caution.

Standing in front of the posts Levi gestured over for her to come closer to him and she wearily stepped forward. Levi grabbed a rope from one end and attached it to her waist and did the same with the other side. She hung upright between the ropes with ease.

'I'm going for breakfast, don't come down till I tell you to do so'

Mikasa frowned but nodded, neither shaking nor trembling from trying to maintain balance.

Levi disappeared back into the HQ and Mikasa sighed out in relief.

_It gets hard to breathe with him looking at me..._ Mikasa thought but her mind kept drifting to him. Mikasa shook her head trying to clear her thoughts.

_If feels so awkward, he's rude and annoying but he's skilled, and we just seem too alike, like I'm looking at a male, short version of myself._ She continued to daydream and plunge into her thoughts and forgot the time passing. The sun had fully risen up and shone in her eyes when Mikasa pulled out of her dreaming state. Levi was staring amusedly at her standing in front of her.

'Having fun sleeping during training Ackerman?'

'I wasn't sleeping'

Levi pulled on one of the ropes and it loosened sending her sprawling back onto the ground without any time to react.

'What the-' She rubbed at her back.

'Payback'

She REALLY did not like this man.

* * *

Later that night.

Levi swore several words under his breath as he scrubbed at specs of dirt on the floor. Mikasa had bought in dirt after her training and although he had warned her not to bring in her dirty shoes she had given him a sly look and walked in stomping her foot on the floor.

'Clean it up' Levi ordered.

Mikasa grinned for the first time but Levi was not moved by it. Her grin was mocking and there were mud splats all over his floor. Not only that she stomped her way over to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Levi had tried to ignore the mess on the floor so he could force Mikasa to clean it up by trying to engross himself in work. But the mud on the floor was bothering him increasingly over time and his eyes trailed to the mud constantly.

Finally his instincts came over him and he grabbed the cleaning bucket and sponges from inside his wardrobe. Ignoring the tingling and the pain it gave him to crouch down he got to work on cleaning.

He didn't notice when Mikasa came out of the bathroom squeaky clean like he had taught her the day before. He only noticed when Mikasa leaned down next to him with a sponge in her hand and started rubbing at mud spots like he was.

'Sorry' It was so quiet that Levi almost missed it. He said nothing, he was all too aware of how close she was and how her skin still had steam coming off it. _Do I even like this little Kid?_

'I didn't mean to annoy you so much' Mikasa continued working hard to leave the floor spotless.

'It's just been a while since I have had anyone watching over me, I haven't talked to someone other than my parents in years and even they are gone now, I didn't mean to be such a brat I just didn't know how to interact with you' The 9 year old girl continued staring at the ground. 'I promise I'll try to get along with you better'

The 15 year old boy had a tiny smile on his face and he pulled Mikasa closer to him by the shoulders and kissed her head.

'You're doing it wrong, wipe, chemical, wipe, dry. Get to it Mikasa' He pointed at the floor.

* * *

The next morning Mikasa woke up early once again and found herself ledged between Levi's frame, she blushed a little but peeled his arms gently away from her. Their relationship had improved drastically over the last couple of days, starting from the night she had helped him clean up the mess. The day ater that they had gone out into town and Levi had shown Mikasa the shops, bars, library, thought she had been covered up well from head to toe in Levi's cloak it felt good to explore and see things she had never seen before.

_'Here' Levi tossed her a package. _

_Mikasa stared at the bulky parcel in her hands confused and pulled open the wrappings slightly. _

_A long red and soft scarf cascaded out of the parcel and down her lap. She pulled it out and held it up to him. _

_'What's this?' _

_'You looked cold, unless you want my cravat you can wear that' _

_'You.. bought this?' Mikasa ran her hand down the scarf. _

_'It's just a scarf' Levi grabbed it out of Mikasa's hand and wrapped it around Mikasa's neck wrapping it twice before tossing the end behind her shoulder. _

_'Thank you' She smiled into her scarf hiding behind it. _

Levi had regretted his decision to buy it for her when he had seen how she wore it everywhere, even to bed but he said nothing about it. The next day after that Levi took Mikasa to Wall Maria and they looked over the endless land spreading out far beyond their vision. Levi spent the day with her sitting on the wall ignoring the titans clawing below them, he told her about huge amount of water called seas and mountains that spat fire, flying stars, people that got swallowed up by the ground. They watched the sun set as they sat cross legged side by side.

Now it had been 4 days since she had been in Levi's care, like every morning she silently got up and crept out of bed careful not to wake Levi up. She put on her boots and pulled on her 3DMG. Making sure that her scarf was still in place she grabbed the green cloak that was far too big for her and slid out of the room. The day before Levi had shown her the training forest where titan shaped cardboards popped out at any random given moment. There were many different levels of difficulty ranging from 1-14. He had shown her how the training worked showing her the lever to pull and buttons to push to activate which level of training. Although she was good at 3DMG she could not catch up to Levi who was able to clear Level 13 with some difficulty. She was still stuck on Level 11 and she was determined not to drag him down.

It took 20 minutes by horse to get from HQ to the training forest but Mikasa had not learned how to ride a horse so she started walking down the deserted street. She whirled around when she heard the sound of hooves on the stone ground. Levi pulled his horse to a stop next to her.

'Waking up this early is normal for you?' He scowled distastefully.

Mikasa grabbed the hand Levi held out and he swung her easily onto the horse in front of him. They rode to the forest in relative silence only exchanging a couple of words.

When they arrived Levi stepped down first making sure not to step on his injured leg and pulled Mikasa down before setting her on the grass.

Levi walked over to a small lever set on a pedestal and pulled it down before pushing a small button.

'Level 11' He said and lay down on the spot where Mikasa had been sitting down. He put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

Mikasa stood up and activated her 3DMG flying towards a tree branch and dodging the figure of a 12m titan that popped out, she changed directions sharply mid jump and easily sliced the padded part of the cardboard titan. She continued her excersise on her own turn, grip branch, glide, release, turn, grip, gas, slice, grip, release, fly etc. It became easier as she flew through the air taking down every titan-like cardboard in the way. Her time became faster and her accuracy improved. She turned sharply again as a 15m titan appeared and she grappled towards it.

Suddenly there was a jerk and she lost her balance, the grapple that had secured her to the air was cut and she was falling.

Levi's eyes flew open when he couldn't hear Mikasa's 3DMG. He saw her falling out of the trees and he could only watch as his hands flew to his waist where his 3DMG should have been. He opened his mouth to call out to her to do anything but dark figures wearing dark blue cloaks appeared in a number of 14-20 and one of them grabbed Mikasa.

Levi limped towards her as fast as he could but one of the cloaked men started talking.

'By the order of the king, you Mikasa Ackerman are hereby arrested, any moves to resist will end in death' Levi and Mikasa both froze.

'Take her'

'LEVI!' Mikasa screamed out in horror as the man who was holding her leaped from the tree along with 10 others and they dragged her on to a horse. Mikasa tried grabbing for her short knife, switch blades even her smoke signal pistol but several men had grabbed her arms together and tied it with ropes that rubbed her skin raw.

'Mikasa!' Levi wanted to run but his injured leg tied him down like chains to the ground. Men left in the trees stared down at him and one of them grinned maniacally.

'Humanity's strongest soldier, useless with an injury' The man said and jumped down next to Levi who was lying on the ground his injuries starting to bleed from trying to run.

The man raised his switchblade and rammed the butt of the sword on Levi's head.

* * *

I dont think Levi would have been emotionless like some episodes in the anime/manga when he was 15 years old maybe thats why he might be a little OOC. Hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.

* * *

She was aware that the ground was moving beneath her feet and she could only stare helplessly as her red scarf dragged along the ground. she stared lifelessly with her head hung low as two men dragged her by the arms. It was difficult to say whether she was awake or not her eyes slightly drooping and glazed over in pain.

Suddenly they stopped and the men on both sides forced her to kneel. Her scraped knees hit the floor hard and she bit the urge to swear. She looked up and saw they were kneeling in a large hall with golden curtains hanging down from large windows. countless tapestries decorated the walls and there was thick red carpet laid out on the stairs leading up to another room. On a raised platform there was a golden throne with luxurious velvet red cushion and a man no older than 40 sat on the throne coldly staring down at her.

She flinched at his eyes, it showed no mercy and she knew whatever was coming wouldn't be a picnic.

'Show me the mark' He commanded and the guard on the right immediately moved to undo the bandage that was wrapped around her arm and pulled her slightly forward so the man could see the symbol of her family carved into her arm. The man stepped off the platform and ran his finger down the symbol an angry expression on his face.

'That's her' He muttered and she pulled back on instinct but as she was held in place by guards the slap met her cheek full force.

'Your parents dare try to escape me? They thought they could keep you safe outside _my _walls?' He hissed. 'Bear in mind the actions of your parents will thoroughly affect your time here Miss Ackerman. By the time you are done with your stay here I expect you to be the perfect soldier' He swished his cloak and walked back up on to sit on his throne.

'Not to worry, the 4 years you have spent neglecting your service will be made up for, while your colleagues may leave the facility in 6 more years I have ordered to make a special exception so you can get your full 10 year training' He grinned maliciously.

'Take her where she belongs' The king ordered and Mikasa felt a jerk in her arms as the men on both sides bowed low towards the king and dragged her away.

'See you in 10 years Miss Ackerman' She swore she heard the king say before the door to the main hall closed with a resounding bang.

Mikasa made an effort to remember which route they were taking knowing if she ever escaped she wouldn't have any trouble finding the way out of the castle, however it proved to be more difficult as they took countless turns through the maze of hallways, many stairs that lead both up and down. Mikasa soon forgot where north was, the windows had disappeared hiding the sun from her eyes, and it was getting slightly colder and colder with each step they took on the current set of stairs they were on. Mikasa noted with some fear that the winding stairs that lead down seemed to stretch on forever for she couldn't see the landing where it ended or the entrance to where they came in from. Her musings ended when she began to see a dim light somewhere below her. They had to walk single file into the room as the stairs had narrowed. The room they came into was very small, a small torch hung on the wall and only a desk sat in the middle of the room. Once her eyes adjusted to the dark room she noticed a metal door. The man with dark red hair pulled her through the metal door first.

It was another room similar to the one before with another metal door at the end, however, there were metal bars on either side of the hallway, it was a cruel sight and she almost recoiled seeing kids her age in groups of twos and threes locked in small cells dirty and worn out. Kids lay on the ground on top of hay that had been hastily put together to make pillows, or dirty sheets on what seemed like stacks of wood to make beds. She saw dead lifeless eyes on most of the children's faces while some looked at the men that gripped her defiantly.

It was at towards the end of the hallway that they came to a stop, there were two cells on her left side that only had one boy each in one of the cells. One of them had dirty blonde hair but strikingly blue eyes and he slightly grinned at her his cell was filled with warn out books that was stacked up towards the low ceiling. In the other cell there was a short boy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, he too looked up at her from his cell but he had no warmth in his eyes or in his manners.

At that moment the man on her right pulled his hood down and she stared openly, shock filling her body. He had hauntingly familiar brown eyes. She didn't realize that she had been pushed into one of the cells and that the door had been locked after she had been pushed in. Her brain registered that she was in a cell only when the man with the familiar eyes walked away and the door shut behind them as they left the room. She closed her own eyes willing herself to remember why she felt like she had met that man before but before she could draw a conclusion a light tap bought her out of her musings.

The brown haired boy that she would be sharing a cell with held out his hand towards her and she shook it.

'I'm Eren Jaeger' The boy in her cell said. Mikasa looked at the small boy, he looked as if he hadn't eaten in several days and he had bruises in many places.

'I'm Mikasa Ackerman' The boy acknowledged that he heard her and then pointed to a lone figure in the next cell. The blonde boy in the next cell scooted closer to the bars between the two cells.

'Armin Arlert' He croaked out lifting a weak hand and Mikasa shook it feeling sorry for the _boy_ even looking at him.

'They told me you had run away 4 years ago, I can understand, this is hell, even worse than prison. I would have escaped too but my parents...' He stopped. Mikasa had the urge to yell that her parents hadn't run away but instead wrapped the red scarf tighter around herself.

'They probably roughed you up a bit when you came, you should probably sleep as soon as you can they're going to work you like a horse tomorrow' Eren said and got off the bed so Mikasa could sleep in it.

She nodded in thanks and climbed into the bed, she felt tears coming to her eyes when she realized how different this bed was from Levi's. She bit back the sniffle and put her head down on the pillow trying to will sleep to consume her faster.

* * *

He woke up coughing uncontrollably, Petra was at his side in an instant and handed him a cup of cold water, he took the cup gratefully and gulped all of it down.

When he was done coughing he looked around the room and then stared blankly at Petra.

'Where's Mikasa' He asked. Petra looked at him in confusion.

'Who captain?'

'What?'

'Huh?'

They stared at each other not understanding what was happening.

'Mikasa, where is she' He tried again.

'Who is Mikasa sir?' Petra answered.

'She's the little gi-' He realized that Petra had never seen or heard of Mikasa during the time Mikasa had stayed with him.

'Is Hanji or commander Erwin back from the meeting?' He changed his question and tried his best to hide the panic that was starting to rise.

'Yes sir, you've been out cold for 2 days now'

'Why do you keep calling me sir'

Petra held her right arm towards where her heart would be in a salute.

'You've been promoted sir, direct orders from Darius Zackly sir' (He's the chief of the three divisions)

Levi didn't say anything, information was not sinking well into his brain and he mulled over the words slowly.

'At ease soldier' Levi muttered and got out of bed reaching for the walking stick which Petra immediately handed him.

'You shouldn't be moving around Levi, the doctor told me that you aggravated your leg injury further when you fell' Erwin stepped into the room and Petra saluted before leaving through the door he came in from.

'Mikasa... what do we do Erwin' Levi frowned panic setting in he tried to move around the room to do something, anything to keep his mind off the little girl he was supposed to protect.

Erwin hesitated and shook his head.

'I'm afraid there's nothing... we could do' He said not lifting his head to meet Levi's incredulous face.

'Erwin... what?'

'I tried to have Mr. Darius or Mr. Nile (Head of military police) offer her protection but both refused, they abandoned their humanity long ago, I tried to have them plead with the king maybe they could have changed his decision but they don't care Levi, there's nothing we can do anymore, she's gone already, it would be different if she was still under our charge but once she's gone she's probably forever gone until they decide to release her' Erwin explained, guilt lacing every word he spoke.

'So, we would just leave a little girl to defend for herself?' Levi spoke the words slowly.

'Levi, sacrifices are necessary to win a greater cause, this is a direct order from not only the chief of military but also myself, you are forbidden from trying to chase after Mikasa' Erwin turned around to walk out of the room.

'So you want me to just forget about her? She's only 9 years old!'

'And you are only 15!' Erwin exclaimed when the door burst open and Hanji strode into the room.

'And what can you do? Do you know where she is? If you do how will you infiltrate the castle on your own against the orders of your commanders, will you limp in with your walking stick and whack people in the head? Are you going to wage war against the crown and try to start a riot? Humans fighting humans while on the brink of survival against the titans, we would never make it out alive. So if you decide you would leave the military to pursue Mikasa, you would abandon your entire squad? People who depend on you, who look up to you, citizens who see you as humanity's strongest soldier giving up everything for a small girl he barely knew for a week? Will you throw away the reasons why you joined the military, why you offered your services and soul to the crown?' Hanji spoke seriously not quite yelling but getting closer to yelling.

Levi had no words to say, it was the first time he had seen Hanji so angry and upset.

'Do you think out of the 3 of us only you have a soul left? I feel sorry about Mikasa just as you are and if there was the slightest chance that I could get her back without endangering the purpose why I am in the scouting legion I would, but I don't even know if she is alive. She's gone, out of our life and we don't know if we will see her again indefinitely, we don't know if she will go through tortures or experiments or whether she might even make it out alive, but the decision has already been made, the orders already carried out, you've failed to protect her Levi, and you will only have to live with that and try to remember why you are here' Hanji finished and left the room slamming it behind her.

'Get your rest, tomorrow you have a lot of work to do as the second-in-command' Erwin followed Hanji out.

Outside the door Hanji was kneeling and Erwin knelt down to her level.

'Sir, I didn't mean to make Levi feel bad, but I had to stop him from doing something stupid' Hanji said staring at her hands.

'It was necessary. It was hard on you, but you did well Hanji' Erwin patted her on the shoulder.

'Thank you sir'

* * *

With a tinkle of a bell the bar doors opened and two boys stepped in, one was red headed and very short and the other had light brown hair. The two of them scanned the bar and the red headed boy nudged his partner and pointed to the corner. They made their way to the table where Levi sat and plopped themselves down heavily on the chairs.

The red headed boy grinned at Levi.

'Haven't seen you in a couple of years _heichou_ heard you got promoted even though this is your first year in the legion' He played with a dagger hidden in his sleeve casually.

The brown haired boy just nodded at his friends ordering a beer for himself.

'How's your injury' The brown haired boy asked.

'It's fine' Levi lied wanting to get to the point of this visit.

The red head, Alec leaned back on his chair and began swinging his legs like a little child.

'I didn't expect you to look for us Lev, after all we decided to cut all ties with you when you left the business' Alec said casually.

'I have a job for you'

Ryker sipped on his beer without saying anything.

'There's someone I want you to find, inside the castle'

'Is this about the girl that was kidnapped that you were looking after' Ryker spoke up. Alec stopped twirling the dagger in his fingers.

Levi nodded 'You know'

'A friend of ours spotted her when she came through the gate, the only oriental girl known within the walls, we had her tailed for business, she would've bought quite a profit, we didn't take her for ourselves cuz you were once our friend' Alec retorted noting how Levi had tensed up as he talked about selling Mikasa.

'Didn't know that you had a thing for her' Alec continued. 'You don't usually get attached to anyone at all, considering you only knew her for 4-5 days at most'

'I told her I'd look after her' Levi replied opening up a bit to his former friends.

'Of course, loyal Levi, always keeps promises that he makes, perfect Levi, too bad she doesn't know that you can ditch your friends if it benefits your situation' Alec spat out bitterly.

Ryker put a hand on Alec's arm to stop him from saying anything more.

'I see' Levi grabbed a couple of change from his pocket and tossed it onto the table he grabbed his walking stick and pulled his coat on. Ryker grabbed his arm.

'It will take a while for us to find her, it's an extensive search and the castle itself is large, not to mention we would have to bypass the security and try to map every hallway we do pass through, not to mention there will be more than capable guards' Ryker said. 'Monthly payment for our services' He pulled out his hand and Levi nodded dropping a bag of coins into Ryker's palm.

'Business is business Levi' Alec muttered and left his seat soon followed by Ryker.

Levi gulped down the rest of the beer left on the table and followed his former friends out of the bar the bell tingling in his wake.

* * *

4 years later.

'Stay in formation' He growled at his squad as titans closed in rapidly from 3 sides. His squad quickly remained in their square formation facing advancing titans with fear in their eyes.

Levi quickly eliminated the 2 titans that was coming straight at him and turned around quickly to see how the rest of the squad was doing. Petra and Oluo were holding on, on their own very well while Gunther and Dita were already swinging towards the next titan.

'Levi' Hanji appeared enthusiastically at his side her eyes shining in excitement.

'Listen listen! When I took down one of the titans it said something! It talked to me!' Hanji was floating on cloud nine. Levi ignored her enthusiasm for the monsters and leaned against a tree.

'Hanji fire the yellow flare' Levi said replacing his blunt blades for new ones.

'You're done here?' Hanji clicked in a yellow canister for the signal flare and fired twice into the air.

'We got what we came for' Levi answered and leaped down from the tree meeting with his subordinates. 'We're going to Site 3 after this, take the carriage and get ready to move out' He told his small squad of about 30 soldiers.

'Levi! Look up!' Hanji yelled from the high branch.

Several blue streaks of smoke colored against the sky.

Levi's eyes widened a fraction and he sighed.

'Abort abort, back to Shiganshina!' He said and the soldiers all saluted before grabbing their horses and riding out of sight. Levi grabbed his own horse and swung on with ease. 'Hanji! Get down, we gotta move!' Levi called out and saw Hanji nodding.

Levi kicked his shins on both sides of his horse and the gelding cantered down the grass pathway through the forest. He could hear Hanji's horse further behind him but he didn't turn. It took less than 5 minutes to reach the edge of the forest and he openly gaped in shock.

In the distance the wall was visible, but unlike any other expedition they weren't met with the face of the white unbreakable wall. Instead a huge titan stood looking over the Shiganshina district his back facing Levi. The huge titan lifted its right leg and Levi wished he could urge his horse to go faster because he had this sinking feeling of what was about to happen. The right leg came down and the earth seemed to shake from even where he was.

Fear. He felt it for the first time.

The wall had been broken.


End file.
